New Zealand Tree Ferns

[Jesse]

Will a tree fern grow well in full/dense dry shade in this country? Are there any large ferns or fern like plants that will grow well in these conditions?

[Jesse]

[adam04]

ferns grow in the rainforests in new zealand. so i imagine they will grow in shade. however would need watering a lot as they wont get much rain on them and wont take water from the ground.

[Jesse]

but is NZ shade warmer than our shade here, all the tree ferns I've seen here are in sunny positions, that's what's got me doubting the shade for them in this country. :-\

[adam04]

hmm, well according to my uncle, who went to NZ for a while. their temp's in the rainforest are actually very similar to ours. and in winter they ahve been known to get snow before now.

So as for temperature. i cant imagine it not being abel to cope, maybe will just struggle a little.

you could maybe try ringing a specialist and see what they think. Tree ferns are epxensive so you dont want to be investing in a pant thats going to die in 6 months.

[Robert_Brenchley]

They've got rampant tree ferns at Heligan, in a shady area,so they obviously flourish in mild damp Cornish weather. they might well need protection further north.

[KevB]

Hi Jesse
take a look at my earlier post - ref  - Dicksonian Tree Fern. hope it helps.

by the way I've left mine out this winter with hardly any protection and all seems fine, plus we have had a few frosts as well ! fingers crossed!!!!

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/yabbse/index.php/topic,12497.0.html

[Ceratonia]

There's lots of different types of tree ferns, with different levels of hardiness.  They're not just from New Zealand. Tree ferns are native to New Guinea, St. Helena, Fiji, Indonesia, South America etc. A lot of the big ones you see for sale in this country are from Tasmania (they take decades to reach any size - grow 2-3cm per year, so big ones have usually been collected from the rainforest and shipped over.) This trade is now tightly regulated by the Aussie govt.

Dicksonia squarrosa is the NZ Tree Fern - very common in NZ. It is hardy but generally needs its crown protected in winter - you usually see people wrapping the crown in straw or fleece.

Dicksonia antarctica is from Tasmania and is much hardier and that's the one you see at Heligan and elsewhere in Cornwall - it happily self-seeds down there. I've grown some of these from seed - the small plants seem much less hardy than the full-grown ones, as you'd expect, so they're in the greenhouse at the moment.

[Jesse]

Thank you all for your replies. That gives me a lot to think about. :)

[jennym]

Jesseveve, I have a link here - I know its not about tree ferns, but gives other options too -
http://www.longacreplants.co.uk/dryferns.htm

hope it helps.

[Moggle]

Just thought I'd add what little I know about the Dicksonia antarctica. I have seen them growing in the wilds of Tassie, growing under the rest of the (temperate) rainforest canopy - so I would assume they can tolerate a bit of shade. I assume that they get frost in the rainforest, or at the very least it gets very cold sometimes. We used to live around 20 or 30 miles from an area of temperate rainforest and we definitely got a lot of frost where I lived.

I have also seen them growing quite high above sea level - probably at least several hundred metres above sea level, where they would definitely get frost and occasionally snow too.

Wikipedia says they are hardy to -5C

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicksonia_antarctica

[Jesse]

Thank Moggle :). It's not so much the cold in winter that I'm worried about, it's more the dense shade and lack of warmth from the sun during the summertime that concerns me.

jennym, great website, just what I've been looking for, thanks! :)